Imagery

The closer you manage to represent the user's culture, the stronger they’ll connect with your message.

Overview

Our imagery should always be in alignment with our core brand values. Images should be positive, familiar, trustworthy, transparent and authentic.  To achieve this, our photography system includes 2 high-level categories: Corporate and Lifestyle. 

Within these top categories, we further define images by their content type as Personalized, Depersonalized, or Environmental.

  • Personalized imagery features a primary subject of one or more people in an authentic moment.
  • Depersonalized imagery includes human presence but doesn't focus on a particular person. For example, the crop shows hands typing on a keyboard, but you don't get a full sense of the person typing.
  • Environmental imagery emphasize physical spaces with little to no human presence at all.

Corporate Images

The Marketing Team has curated these photographs to capture the authentic Acolad life in the offices or at events. They are ideal for situations where we want to put the brand first and personalize our tone, as they enable users to identify with the experience of the subject matter. They can be personal, depersonalized, or use spaces.

Corporate Image

Personalized

Corporate Image

Depersonalized

Corporate Image

Spaces


Lifestyle Images

We mainly use curated stock photos here. These photos aim to convey real-life situations, people, and emotions in a relatable and aspirational way that aligns with our core brand values.

Lifestyle Image

Personalized

Lifestyle Image

Depersonalized

Lifestyle Image

Environmental


Embrace Cultural Awareness

Be sensitive to the culture you're targeting. Choose images that will be relatable there. We want the image to resonate with the end user and not feel foreign.


Image Misuse

Do not use images that contain text as a primary feature

 
  • Text within images can create extra steps during the localizaion process, and sometimes translation isn't possible at all.
  • Images are often scaled differently across various devices. What's legible on a full-size desktop image may be unreadable on mobile.
  • Text within images can create accessibility issues for search engines and users with vision impairments or those who rely on screen readers in a digital environment.

Do not use clip art

 

We do not want to show dated styles nor inconsistent styles in our graphics. Instead of clip art or similar out-of-the-box graphics, do use icons from Google Material Symbol library or photographs from Acolad approved photography (Acolad employee access only).

Do not use “clever” or overly literal stock photography

Do not use clichés

Do not use images with filters

No lens flare, no filters.  Avoid fisheyes lens effects, strong bokeh lighting, and extreme color corrections. Pictures don’t need to be real. They need to feel real.

Do not use photos with obvious digital flourishes

Design Foundations

Logo

Discover our logos, their design & usage guidelines for brand consistency.

Typography

Learn our typography rules for consistent messaging & legibility.

Color

Explore our color palette & guidelines for visually appealing materials.

Imagery

Learn about how we use photography for effective brand communication.

Graphic Styles

Learn about essential design elements including buttons, icons, & object styles.

Accessibility

Learn how to ensure that our digital assets are accessible to all.